Team Penske, winners of 20 Indianapolis 500s, announced the departure of three top executives on Wednesday morning following a cheating scandal that was discovered ahead of “Fast 12” qualifying on Sunday afternoon for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Tim Cindric, Team Penske’s team president and race strategist for two-time reigning Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden, has been relieved of his duties. Ron Ruzewski, managing director and race strategist for Will Power, and Kyle Moyer, general manager and race strategist for Scott McLaughlin, have also parted ways with the company.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” team owner Roger Penske, who also owns the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said in a statement. “We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”
Minutes before Power and Newgarden were scheduled to hit the track on Sunday for qualifying, the Nos. 2 and 12 Chevrolets were pulled out of line and brought to the garage. Rival teams noticed the attenuator, a part of the car that isn’t allowed to be modified, had been sealed off. McLaughlin wrecked during practice on Sunday morning and didn’t attempt a qualifying lap, and officials noticed his attenuator wasn’t touched.
Dating back to the spring of 2024, it’s the second major technical violation in the last two seasons for Team Penske. During the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg last year, the Penske cars were caught with illegal software that allowed them to use a push to pass (boosts the engine) during a period of the race that wasn’t allowed. Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified from the race for pushing the button, and all three Penske teams were issued penalties.
Cindric’s tenure with Penske dated back to the 20th century, joining the organization in 1999. Ruzewski worked with Penske since 2005, while Moyer began his tenure in 2015.
Cindric took over as president of Team Penske in January 2006, a job that included overseeing the organization’s NASCAR program. Under his leadership, Penske won four championships in the Cup Series and six ownership titles in the Xfinity Series, in addition to Austin Cindric’s driver’s championship in 2020. Earlier this year, Cindric announced he was stepping down as president of Team Penske. However, he remained in charge of the IndyCar Series program and led strategy for Newgarden’s team.
No replacements were announced for the powerhouse team, but Team Penske said it will have further announcements this week for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500 personnel. Newgarden and Power will have to start at the rear of the field on Sunday, with the team getting fined a total of $200,000.